Synthesis, photophysical and assembly studies of novel luminescent lanthanide(III) complexes of 1,2,3-triazolyl-pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamide-based ligands

White light and colour-tunable emission from a single component europium-1,8-naphthalimide thin film

The synthesis and fabrication of spin coated films of a new Eu³⁺ complex [Eu(1)₃] derived from the 1,8-naphthalimide containing ligand 1H is presented. The complex is multi-emissive displaying blue emission from the 1,8-naphthalimide fluorophore and red emission from the Eu³⁺ centre in both solution-state and solid-state. This allows the overall emission to be tuned by changing the excitaton wavelength, where varing degrees of red and blue emission intensity alter the overall emission colour from blue, to red and including white-light emission. The complex was spin-coated onto quartz slides giving 134 nm thick coatings that retained the multi-emissive and colour tunable properties. Overall, resulting in a colour-tunable system which in solution, solid, and thin film states can alter the overall colour from deep red to dark blue.

Lanthanide-Based Langmuir–Blodgett Multilayers: Multi-Emissive, Temperature-Dependent Thin Films

Multi-emissive compounds have attracted significant attention from the research community owing to the wide array of potential application areas. However, to move towards application, such systems should be readily immobilized by solution-based methods to form soft materials such as gels and films. Herein we report the use of Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) deposition to easily immobilize luminescent lanthanide-based amphiphilic solids into multi-emissive ultrathin LB films, by multilayering different luminescent amphiphiles. Utilizing this technique, we have reliably fabricated dual- and triple-emissive films where the overall emission from the film is tuned. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that these multi-emissive films are temperature-dependent, with emission profiles significantly altering from 294 to 340 K, resulting in colour changes and potential application as ultrathin, contactless ratiometric thermometer coatings.

Ultra-thin films of amphiphilic lanthanide complexes: multi-colour emission from molecular monolayers

We report the synthesis and Langmuir-Blodgett deposition of 4 brightly emissive lanthanide amphiphiles that can be co-deposited to give multi-emissive ultra-thin films where two, three and four distinct lanthanide emission profiles are observed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a four-component emissive Langmuir-Blodgett film.